Marilyn giggled even more, before she shuffled over to her own bed (rubbing her bottom a little), and curled down into the sheets.

Christmas was a very sweet affair. The girls had gotten their governess a rather pretty silk dress, and she blushed when Mr. Lawrence gave her a modest gold necklace. Sadie had loved her little fluff, and she squealed over the tap shoes Marilyn had gotten her. Mr. Lawrence had gotten a rather nice watch from Miss Lottie, and bourbon from the girls. (He gave them a stern look, asking them how they got a hold of it, and he rolled his eyes when they simultaneously answered, "Lois.") Marilyn almost cried over the record player Mr. Lawrence and Sadie had gotten her, and Miss Lottie had even gotten her three records!

Lottie really enjoyed spending the time with the Lawrence's over the holidays. Bernard had offered to give her money to take a train to see her family, but she just blushed and politely declined. To be honest she didn't really like her family all that much...Her mother had passed a few years ago, and her father was a man who always gave her harsh words. And her brother...

She received a letter from him a couple days after Christmas. She should have expected as much. In the privacy of her room, she carefully opened the letter. Clement was asking for money again. He was a drunk, and her father had obviously gotten tired of paying for his habit. They had gotten along so well as children...and now, the only time he wanted to speak to her was to get money for booze. She sighed...Would she send him the money again this time...? She didn't know. But now, she certainly was in a foul mood. Perhaps spending some time with the girls would cheer her up.

After drying her eyes, she went up to their room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Both girls chirped happily. They were playing with some of Sadie's chess pieces, which was made of glass and the girls had to be very careful with. (Thankfully, knowing how clumsy children can be sometimes, Mr. Lawrence had another two sets on hand, in case a piece broke, for any amount of reasons.) Marilyn wasn't too good at chess, so the girls tended to play with the pieces, as if they were checkers.

"Hi, Miss Lottie!" Marilyn beamed as their governess came in. "How's your day been? You weren't at breakfast this morning..."

"Yeah, you ok?" Sadie asked.

The concern from the girls was sweet, though she still was a bit frustrated. "I'm alright, thank you ladies. So, what are you doing?" Lottie said as she sat down on Sadie's bed.

"Playing checkers," Marilyn said with a small grin, moving one of the pawns over one of Sadie's, and claiming the other girl's piece. "Celia has a set, so she taught us how to play, and I'm no good at Chess, so we play this instead."

"Ah...I see." She tried to distract herself by watching the girls play, but her mind wandered off to her horrid brother. Damn, Clement...Her hands turned to fists on her lap.

The girls, somehow, did not notice how angry their governess was becoming in her own thoughts, since they were so focused in their game, but when Marilyn reached over to pick up one of Sadie's pieces (since she had just jumped over it), her Queen fell over and fell to the floor. It didn't shatter into a million pieces, but the top of it cracked, so there was a rather ugly formation in the cross on top.

"Oh, no," Marilyn said softly, picking up the piece. She was frowning softly. "I've ruined it, Sadie... I'm so sorry. I'll get you a new piece!"

"Oh, hey, it's alright. No big deal! I think Mr. Lawr--"

"What on earth! Marilyn! How can you be so careless?" Lottie glared at the girl. On a normal day, she wouldn't have been near as upset. But today....

Marilyn gave Sadie a small smile, before she flinched under Miss Lottie's tone, and she looked over with wide eyes. "Miss Lottie...?" she said softly. This anger seemed completely out of character for her!

"I expect you to answer me when I'm talking to you! Ugh! That's it!" She grabbed Marilyn by the wrist, pulled her up and over her lap.

"Hey! MIss Lottie, Marilyn didn't do anything!" Sadie protested.

"Enough!" Lottie lifted Marilyn's dress, yanked down her panties and began to spank her sharply. She was too angry to realize that her actions weren't legitimate at all...She was taking out her frustration from her brother on poor Marilyn's bottom.